


The Mayfly

by CeciliaCrescent



Category: The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Canon - Book, F/F, Retelling, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-27 08:06:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeciliaCrescent/pseuds/CeciliaCrescent
Summary: The Price of Salt, written from Abby's POV. This is based solely on the book since we have an abundance of fics of the movie already. Please let me know your thoughts on it. It runs parallel with my other work, The Pillar of Salt. This one will be shorter however, since Abby’s scenes are fewer in the book.





	1. Chapter 1

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house  
The air was filled with laughter, cheer, and carouse  
The bottles of wine were downed straight with no care  
To have a good time was why people were there  
While Carol had her angel and Christmas card  
This follows the story of Abby Gerhard

“It’s about time, Gerhard!” Someone called out as she exited her open topped car. “Took your time picking bugs before you left?”

“Shut up, Steve!” Abby hollered back without hostility as she approached the entrance. “I do more than just pick bugs for your information.”

The man laughed as he opened the door to let her in. The uproar of chatter and wafting scent of alcohol immediately flooded her senses. Abby shed her coat and pulled her long black hair out of her purple knitted suit. _It’s party time._

She made a beeline to the refreshments table. Driving in winter in the open can dry one’s throat. Though alcohol pretty much did the same, she reached for the punch bowl anyway, knowing how the host liked to spike it.

“Glad you could make it, Abby.” She turned to see Tessie Rowan walking towards her. “Is Carol coming?”

“Nah, she’s spending Christmas with her daughter.” Abby replied with a shrug and took out a stick of Craven A’s. “Got a lighter, Tessie?”

“To be tied down by a man and bear his children. I don’t think I can do it.” Tessie grimaced as she lit Abby’s cigarette.

“You and me both.” Abby said and rolled her eyes.

“I mean, why stop at one when there’s plenty of me to go around?” Tessie laughed.

“You maverick.” Abby laughed with her.

“It takes one to know one, dear.” The other grinned. “Though we seem to be completely opposite. When was the last time you went out with a man, Abby?”

“When was the last time you did?” Abby said, deflecting the topic altogether.

“He’s on his way here tonight as a matter of fact.”

“And how long will this one last?”

Tessie shrugged.

Abby felt bad for the poor sod who had the misfortune of being attracted to Tessie. Not because she was ugly, far from it. Red wavy hair, a nice ample bosom, Abby thought her a knock-out. But her wishy-washy nature has led several heartbroken men in her wake. Abby would have been like them as well, even worse because she was a woman, if only it wasn’t for…

“Ah, there he is!” Tessie said and waved eagerly at a man wearing a top hat. “Abby, this is Bob Haversham. Bob, this is Abby Gerhard.”

Abby stared at the man for a moment. “Hey, I know you! Weren’t you that man who needed a dog walker for a few weeks in October?”

“Oh, right, I remember you. You were the woman who brought home the wrong dog after a day…”

“I got him back anyway, didn’t I?” Abby shrugged. “How is old Maggie anyway?”

“Majesty is doing fine. His new dog walker comes by every weekday.”

“Ah, well, if you ever need a backup. Just say the word.”

“Right…”

Tessie was giggling the whole time. “Well, at least you two know each other then. Bob needs someone to walk his dog because of his day job at the government office.”

“I said I worked at the bank.” Bob corrected her. “And I quit that job already. I’m going to be working for a real estate company next.”

“Oh right, the government worker was the other man I dated…”

Bob and Abby just looked at each other. “So, real estate, huh? Which company?”

“Rattner and Aird. I’ll be part of their brokerage department starting January.”

“I see…” _Harge’s company…_ Tessie winked at her, knowing who owned it as well. Abby just nodded discreetly.

“And if I may ask, what about you? What does your husband do?” He asked.

Abby felt insulted, but before she could open her mouth, Tessie answered for her. “Abby’s single. She works as a ‘reserve entomologist’” Tessie giggled. Abby rolled her eyes.

“What does that even mean?” Bob asked.

“Let’s just say I do a couple of jobs to make ends meet, and my largest client is an ecology lab who often asks me to pick out bugs out of god knows what.”

“Charming, isn’t she?” Tessie laughed.

“As you, Tessie.” Abby threw back.

After Tessie and Bob left, Abby took a seat by the window. All around were couples dancing to Jazz hits on the phonograph, including the two earlier. A self-depreciating smile formed on her lips. How would it feel to dance with another woman? With _that_ other woman? She’ll probably never find out. A deep sigh escaped her as she looked up at the winter skies. _Look at me, wasting my life at another party while you spend Christmas with your most precious daughter._

A slight pang still lingered in her chest after all these months but she knew it had to be that way. All her life, Abby had loved Carol. When they were children, Abby felt compelled to protect the younger girl, pretending to be the unwomanly knight for the delicate princess. When they were teenagers, she began openly accepting the fact that her heart belonged to another girl, sending her clumsy letters even when they couldn’t see each other. Even after going to Europe with her family, she kept on pining for her, until the day they met again after so many years.

She took a sip of her drink. _Harge…_ Abby felt devastated when she found out that Carol was getting married to him. It felt like a slap of reality to her. The world viewed her kind as an abomination. Carol would never reciprocate her feelings. Or so she had thought, because even after several years, even after Rindy came about, Abby just couldn’t move on. Riding horses with Carol, playing tennis with Carol, just about anything with Carol would be enough each time.

Then that day came. “I love you, mom.” Abby jokingly murmured. Her mother had insisted that the two would spend the night at Abby’s room when the roads were snowed in because the room Carol would often stay in was unmade at the time.

Another sad smile surfaced as Abby reminisced the feeling of Carol’s perfectly smooth skin, the sound of her voice when she finally admitted to Abby that she did feel something towards her… And the feeling of melancholy after Carol said that they had to stop. All those years of longing, leading up to only two meager months of happiness…

_At least you’ll be happy now…_ Abby thought and downed the rest of her drink. Knowing that Carol would be happy that night with her daughter was enough for her that Christmas Eve. _Merry Christmas, Carol…_

“Merry Christmas!” The party goers shouted in unison, raising their drinks in the air. The wall clock had finally struck midnight.

Abby tossed the disposable cup, picked up a can of beer and stood up. “Merry Christmas!”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The cream coloured car sped through the New Jersey highway. At four in the morning, there wouldn’t be any other cars in the vicinity, especially on Christmas morning so Abby floored it. When she arrived home an hour earlier, her family had already gone to sleep. The party at New Rochelle tired her out and while she was looking forward to sleeping all the way until noon, she saw a note posted on her door by her mother.

“Carol said the dog got out again.” It wrote, probably posted much earlier that day. Abby ran straight back to the car and drove straight to Carol’s house.

 _Come see me as soon as possible_.

Something must have gone wrong. It must have something to do with her custody over her daughter Rindy. _Having a divorce is such a messy process..._

Abby mentally kicked herself for not returning home at all before heading to the party. If she had gotten the message sooner, she would have easily dropped it to go to Carol’s without any second thoughts. No doubt it had to be important to be summoned on Christmas Eve.

_Carol…_

The freezing wind did nothing to deter her as she pulled by the driveway over an hour later. The sun was already peeking through the suburban horizon. Worried that she might wake anybody else up, she stood up on the seat of her car and placed two fingers in her mouth. She whistled loud but pitched it up and down, mimicking a bird’s call, adding a little twitter in the end.

It was a silly way of calling that only Carol knew. Abby smiled as she whistled again, remembering all the times she had to do that the previous winter to avoid waking up Harge and Rindy when Carol would sneak out to be with her.

And finally, there she was, with her blonde hair partially covering her face as she opened the window. Her friend smiled warmly at her as she stuck her head out. “Are you going to bed or getting up?” Carol whispered, just like she always did.

“Both.” Abby said and they both giggled. All the weariness from driving for hours fled instantly after hearing her voice. _If only we could go back to the way it was, months and months ago…_ “Go for a ride?” Abby smiled suavely and pointed at the seat next to her.

“You nitwit.” Carol giggled.

“You alone?”

“No.”

“Uh-oh…” Abby’s eyes widened. Was Harge there with her? Or maybe Rindy was there sleeping in her room after all? Did she drive all the way there for nothing?

“It’s all right. Do you want to come in?” Abby shrugged and just stepped down. She opened the familiar door and sprawled right on the sofa, finally giving her tired limbs a rest from driving.

Her eyes quickly scanned the room to see if anything was amiss. Carol was vague about everything, just as they always were when they were speaking in code. But Abby was sure it must have been something to do with the divorce. Other than the very well decorated Christmas tree, nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary however. _Did she make that with Rindy last night? Why did she call me then?_

“Glad you could make it.” Carol smiled as she walked down the stairs.

“Merry Christmas.” Abby greeted her with a shy shrug. “Who made the Christmas tree?”

As if right on cue, another set of footsteps came from the stairs. They both turned to see a girl with brown hair wearing one of Harge’s robes. Abby’s eyebrows raised. “She did.” Carol gestured towards the mysterious girl. “This is Abby. Abby Gerhard, Therese Belivet.”

She looked harmless enough. Probably just a new friend Carol made. “Hello.” She said and smiled disarmingly.

“How do you do?” Therese whispered politely.

“You make a fine tree.” Abby complimented, also in a low voice.

“Will everybody stop whispering?” Carol rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen.

Abby playfully smirked and said with a loud voice instead “Got any coffee, Carol?” as she followed her. Carol seemed tired that morning, more emotionally than physically so Abby tried to lighten up her mood. “So ‘the dog got out again’, huh? I’m glad you don’t have a cat because my mother would surely find it weird if you kept on saying ‘my cat got out’ to her every time.”

Carol laughed, the hearty sound instantly bringing delight to Abby’s ears. “Would you rather it be a cockerel?”

“Maybe that’s the call I’ll try next time.” Abby grinned, showing her white teeth.

“Heavens no! You’re bad enough with your drunken bird twittering.” Carol said and handed her a glass of orange juice.

“It’s to entice your cat to come out and eat it.”

“It’s a dog near our garage!” Carol laughed, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Maybe driving all the way there without a wink of sleep just to make her smile and laugh like that wasn’t so bad, Abby thought.

But she knew something had to happen so she prodded further, lightly, just like Abby always would. “So, how’s old Harge?”

Carol’s demeanour changed instantly, unnoticeable to most people but impossible to miss for her best friend. Abby almost immediately regretted it. “The same.”

“Well, it’s Christmas. So I’ll get the old man something nice.” She tried to lighten the tone again. “Didn’t he always tell you he likes to be prepared all the time which is why he bought the you-know-what after that burglar broke in?”

“Yes?”

“I’ll get him a Boy Scout pocket gadget! Perfect for the ambitious little boy inside of him.”

Carol almost doubled over laughing. “I’m going to tell him that. I can’t resist.”

Abby laughed along and, noticing Therese again for the first time in several minutes, smiled broadly at her. “And tell him where it came from.” _Come on, join in. Anything to make Carol feel less gloomy._ If she was Carol’s new friend, she could probably do something to make her feel better. “Where’re you from?” She asked Therese.

“She’s from New York.” Carol answered instead once her laughing fit was over.

Abby smiled, waiting for Therese to answer herself but she didn’t say anything and just nodded politely. _Shy type, huh? Oh well._

She’ll find out what this is all about in a matter of time anyways. She brought out a pack of her cigarettes and lit one for herself as Carol went to prepare the rest of their breakfast.

Abby observed Therese inconspicuously behind her typical silly façade as they drank coffee and juice. _She seems to be quite young to be one of Carol’s friends though, and I haven’t seen Rindy at all yet. She might just be sleeping upstairs though. No wait, Carol wouldn’t be laughing this loudly because she wouldn’t want to wake her up. Then is this girl…?_ “Are you old enough to smoke?” Abby said, offering her the box of cigarettes.

“Abby, what is this?” Carol said defensively as she placed her spoon down.

“Thanks, I’d like one.” Therese accepted.

“Well, what’s what?” Abby asked as she innocently rested her elbows on the table.

“I suspect you’re a little tight.” _Me? I ought to say the same thing about you. Just who is this girl?_

Instead of saying that, Abby just faked another grin. “Driving for hours in the open air? I left New Rochelle at two, got home and found your message, and here I am.” With that, Carol fell silent once more. Abby spoke in a more composed and concerned voice. “Well?”

“Well… I didn’t win the first round.” Carol uttered. _I see…_

Abby wasn’t surprised. Despite Harge’s deplorable attitude towards Carol, he loved his daughter without a doubt. He probably pulled something with his lawyer to deny Rindy’s full custody under Carol. “For how long?”

“For three months.”

 _Three months without her daughter?_ “Starting when?”

“Starting now. Starting last night, in fact.” Then she looked at Therese before falling silent and it all began to make sense to her.

“That’s not set already, is it?”

“I’m afraid it is. Just verbally but it’ll hold.” The blonde tried to say indifferently but she wasn’t fooling Abby.

Carol was lonely, much too lonely to have some random new friend stay over at Christmas Eve in place of Rindy. Abby mentally berated herself again for her negligence the previous day. Carol needed her and she was just busy partying at some place in New Rochelle. She thought everything would have gone well because Carol was very much looking forward to spending Christmas with Rindy. _Damn it, Gerhard! You screwed up again!_

“What are you doing tonight? Late.” Carol said, with a plea in her voice.

Abby quickly shoved her self-loathing away and beamed a big happy grin to her already downcast friend. She had to be happier for Carol’s sake. “I’m not doing anything early. Dinner’s at two today.”

“Call me sometime.” Carol said, the desperation clearly painting her words.

“Sure.” She tried to say casually. _I promise, Carol, I’ll be here for you._

Carol said nothing further. Abby glanced at Therese who seemed at a loss for words or preoccupied with her own juvenile thoughts on the situation.

Between the absence of Rindy and the situation with Harge, her best friend was clearly in a slump. Abby would tell her that it’s alright, that she can get through it. She’d stick with her for the next three months if need be until Rindy would once again be with Carol. And even after that…

“No, Abby, we have to stop!” Carol’s voice echoed in her mind. Abby’s fingers froze as she puffed at her cigarette. “I won’t have my daughter think of me as a monster. I just can’t do this anymore!”

Remembering how powerless she was to help her, no, not even that. She was the reason for all of Carol’s troubles, the atrocity who drove her into biting the forbidden fruit. Her earlier feelings immediately retreated. She couldn’t help Carol, no matter how much she wanted to…

“I’d take a trip.” She blurted out suddenly. “Take a little trip away somewhere.” Then she turned to Carol’s mysterious new friend as if asking her to agree with that, to confirm that it would really be best for her to be away from Abby at this crucial time.

“I’m not much in the mood.” Carol shrugged. But the words passed right by. _It’s your fault Harge is so hard on her. You took her away from him. You took her away from Rindy. And now she has to bear the blunt of it all because of your selfish actions!_

Abby took a deep breath and shook all the vehement emotions away. “This place is gloomy as a coal pit in the mornings, isn’t it?”

“Maybe not a coal pit. I’m thinking more of an asylum.” Carol said as they walked back to the living room.

“That’s not dull.”

“Why? Have you already been to one? Or don’t tell me you’ve been admitted already.” Abby felt better. It was Carol’s turn to cheer her up, albeit unknowingly.

“No, but I will be if they ever make me pick another bug from a Bahama lily again.” It made Carol smile and Abby remembered that, though there was a time that they were lovers, they would always be best friends.


End file.
